Globally, filmmakers face challenges, some of which include
a constant fear of piracy, huge production costs and stress so as to be able to
recoup their expenses. However, for some Nigerian filmmakers, their ordeals
often start at locations before acting is allowed to commence. While such
haggling to ‘drop’ money for ‘Area Boys’ in order to make use streets and
public areas for any purpose is no news, for filmmakers, it is perhaps assuming
an unhealthy dimension.
And not too long ago, actor and film producer, Funke
Akindele Bello posted a video on Instagram where she and her crew were being
harassed by ‘Area Boys’ as they were on location.
“Filming now in Chancellor Street Iraboko, Awoyaya,” wrote
Funke who is the producer of the successful Jenifa franchise and who also plays
the role of Jenifa.
“And area boys are here fighting us. I’m so fed up with
these boys. We work so hard. God help us.”
Earlier in the year, another Nollywood star and film
producer, Omoni Oboli, found herself in a similar scenario while on location in
Lagos.
Like Funke, she had also uploaded the video of ‘Area Boys’
harassing her film crew on location to her Instagram account. The thespian who
produced, ‘Being Mrs Elliot’, ‘Wives on Strike’ and ‘Okafor’s Law’ could not
resist venting.
“I am totally fed up,” she wrote, tagging Lagos State
governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, in her post and imploring him to come to the assistance
of filmmakers.
“Shooting in Lagos State is such a difficult experience.
I’ve been settling area boys everyday yet they still fight us. The other day,
they broke a bottle to stab my crew and seized my van key. You have to settle
different factions. I’m a tax paying citizen of Lagos State. As filmmakers, we
pay taxes even on a loss. Na beg we dey beg o @akinwunmiambode help us. We are
fed up!!! So many people are getting paid on this set. We are bringing commerce
and boosting the economy. Pls help!!! My money is not for area boys! They think
it’s their birthright! It’s indeed very sad!”
And while actress and movie producer Fathia Balogun says her
experience is not as awful as Funke or Omoni, she describes as ’embarrassing’
the disturbance by the street urchins.
“I’ve seen when they (Area Boys) come to you and ask you to
give them this and when you tell them you don’t have, it’s like, ‘why won’t you
have?’ said Fathia who is set to premiere her new movie, Connection.
“The harassment is huge. We just pray that as time goes on,
they’ll help us clear some of that.”
And in what has become a norm, filmmakers have devised a
means of addressing the issue of street urchins. Even though ace movie
producer, Kunle Afolayan, acknowledged the menace of ‘Area Boys’ on filmmakers
and their films, the filmmaker who in 2017 has already produced three movies
-Omugwo, Roti and Tribunal however, is of the opinion that the manner of
approach a filmmaker relates with the ‘Area Boys’ matters.
“Once they come, we’ll give roles to them, give them things
to do,” the thespian said, sharing his tactics.
“Sometimes, we’ll make them our security. Sometimes, we use
them as extras in the film. And they will get paid for it. So, that’s how I’ve
always handled things.”
He however, said that from his own experience, the menace of
‘Area Boys’ is much more pronounced in other southwestern states than in Lagos.
“In fact, it’s not as bad in Lagos as in Abeokuta and Ibadan
where area boys would hardly ever listen to you at all. But here in Lagos, I’m
always able to control them. I just need to speak to them and we’ll now put
them to use.”
While Afolayan’s solution depends on the individual producer
to manage the ‘Area Boys’, another filmmaker, Dakore Egbuson considers another
solution.
“We have to rehabilitate and educate the area boys,” said
Egbuson who thinks the menace is a consequence of a society that breeds them.
“The reason why there are area boys is because there is an
imbalance in the society. The government has a lot to do in terms of educating
them and letting them understand the far reaching consequences of what they are
doing. And then, on the other hand, also give us adequate security. Those are
the kind of things we need to put in place. But until then, it’s a free fall
and for a long time we have been dealing with it quietly but social media has
actually helped to shine that spotlight on it. So, like I said, let’s not
castigate the area boys too. Let’s take care of them. If they are busy, there
is no need for them to be area boys.”
Peeved at the development, Omotunde David also known as Lolo
1 of Wazobia FM is incensed over the fact that she has to pay miscreants after
obtaining permission from the state.
Relating an experience where a shoot of Jenifa’s Diary had
to be called off, Lolo said, “we were afraid of the way they became aggressive
and we were not shooting on any private turf. It was just a street that anybody
can walk. So are you going to collect toll off people walking on the streets?
These are the things that discourage us that are entrepreneurs. How many people
do you pay? If you’ve taken permission from the right place these people still
come through the back end and they even threaten violence.
“Sometimes we will rather save the camera than save
ourselves because the cameras are very expensive but they don’t know these
things and I wonder why. We really need to engage our youths more to know that
it is very demeaning as a human being to stay out there and expect to earn from
something you didn’t work for.
“When I was shooting Aunty Bose, as little as it was, in a
gated estate after taking permission from the estate, yet the security
operatives of the estate still came and said ‘ehn you didn’t see us.’ And
that’s even something that is little. Imagine if I have a bigger budget working
with more people.”
In many parts of the country, street urchins have held
businesses, transporters and workers at construction sites to ransom, demanding
money before they are allowed to conduct their businesses. And while the Lagos
and Ogun state governments have addressed harassment by street urchins at
construction sites, there is nothing in place for actors on locations. In many
western countries, film villages exist to provide locations where films are
shot. This is not the case in Nigeria.
In 2016, the President Muhammadu Buhari–led Federal
Government had proposed the idea of a film village to be sited in Kano. But
this was shot down by sections of Kano indigenes which vehemently kicked
against the idea.
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